Legends

The Dempster Legends
I thought I would tell you about two stories that are about the Dempster region. The Hwy has only been completed since the mid 1970’s and before that there was no road. People in Inuvik had there supplies brought to them by barge up the McKenzie River from Edmonton, Alberta over the Great Slave Lake. This was no small feat and you waited all year for those supplies and they were expensive.
In 1915 the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) would send each winter from Dawson a patrol with sled dogs to Inuvik. This would take about 50 days to complete and was quite an ordeal, usually three to five sleds and 5-6 men. Well the 1915 patrol was called the Lost Patrol because they got lost in the region and all perished because they did not take an Indian guide it was felt. After that all patrols were required to take an Indian guide.
The next bid of history is about Mad Trapper Jack and could be where the saying goes that the Mounties always get there man. Mad Jack apparently killed two men in a fight of some kind and then went into the woods. He was accosted by the local constable for questioning and he for some reason he killed him to. So the Mounties (I should say one RCMP ) led a chase to capture Mad Jack. This chase and pursuit lasted for over 42 days and covered thousands of miles by sled dogs in temperatures below -40 degrees. Mad Dog was finally killed while being arrested for the crimes he committed, and so ends the story. But not the legend.
Some pictures this time I hope.
1 Beaver lodge
2 Mountains on the way, note the tree line
3 Tsiigehechic town from the ferry
4 Artic Circle
5 The long road